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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Samsung brand leading in the electronic market for its various type of product. Samsung mobile launches astonish the world by its unique and remarkable features. Now what Samsung is planning for its new launches, what are its strategies and plan for its new product in 2014. Does Samsung launch a different and unique product this time. Here Are some more taught own Samsung new product launching

Monday, December 30, 2013

Short investment, high return.

IF you have 2 lacs:-

You can invest 2 lacs dollar in many ways. Like you can invest 2 lac dollar in government scheme to earn profit or interest. For example in Pakistan National Saving is one of the government scheme which give interest up to 11% . For example: Like for every 1 lac rupees will get 1100 rupees each month, and in one year you can earn 13200 rupees as a interest or profit. If you deposit 2 lacs rupees for 10 years in government scheme your investment of 2 lacs rupees will change into 4.64 lacs after 10 years. It mean after 10 years your investment will doubled. Fixed deposit in government scheme and in bank is one source to earn profit

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Mission & VIsion of Nokia

Mission Statement:

1-To guide and focus decision making

2-To create a balance between the competing interest of various stakeholders

3-To motivate and inspire organizational members

However, it is important to point out that mission statements do not always deliver the promised benefits. In reality, mission statements are often unreadable and uninspiring, and articulate values that are unrealistic or are not aligned with day-to-day organizational behaviour.

Previous mission statement research focused primarily on the content of mission statements and/or on the manager’s perception of the mission statement. Meanwhile, the mission statement perception of individual organizational members received little attention.

Vision Statement:

Nokia wants to create a new world; to transform a big planet to a small village. Their vision is to create, build, and encourage people from all countries to communicate with each other in order to create a world where everybody is connected.

Humans learn from people around them, but men also seem to forget that beliefs and thoughts differ from person to person. The way of thinking, experiences, believes are simultaneously related in a logic approach. Similarly, Nokia wants to create a world of creativity and experience, shared experiences. mill in Tammerkoski in southern Finland. Frederick Idestam then built another mill by the Nokiavirta River where he gave the name Nokia to the mill in 1871. Originally, the Nokianvirta River was named after a dark furry animal, locally known as the Nokia – a type of marten.

Following a major industrial force, the company merges with a cable company (founded by Eduard Polon) and a rubber firm (founded by Arvid Wickstrom) which sets Nokia on the new path of electronics. Nokia’s first electronic device was a pulse analyzer designed for use in nuclear power plants in 1962. Their interest in telecommunication systems began in 1963 when they started developing radio telephones for the army and the emergency services, prior to the manufacturing of televisions, radio phones, data transfer equipment, radio link, analyzers and digital telephone exchange. Nokia will change its production and focus on the telecommunication expertise until it

becomes the core of its future work.

To move to mobile:

In 1979 Mobira Oy was the first phone maker. They begin life as a joint venture between Nokia and leading Finnish television Salora. The Mobile phone revolution started in 1981 with the launch of the first Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. The phone industry began to expand rapidly and Nokia introduces its first car phones followed by the portable in 1986.

Mobile revolution:

In 1992, Nokia decides to focus on its telecommunications business. This happens when Jorma Ollila becomes CEO of Nokia and he chooses to concentrate on telecommunication industry. In the 1990’s, the rubber, cable, and consumer electronics divisions, were therefore sold. Nokia’s only business turned towards the manufacturing of mobile phones and telecommunications systems. The strategy of Jorma Ollila was to create a new era of telecommunication on a long term vision.

In 1992, the company launched its first GSM handset and then introduced their famous Nokia Tune in 1994. During that year, the world’s first satellite was made using a Nokia GSM handset.

In 1997 the world famous mobile game “Snake” was presented in the Nokia 6110. Soon after, in 1998, the company became the world leader in mobile phones. Following a good deal of research, they launched the first mobile phone “Nokia 7110” which included a WAP.

Nokia Now:

Presently, Nokia is creating more and more mobiles phones with differing functions. The company also makes sure into diversifying and segmenting its products. Their leading position pushed the company to go forward in their research. They came up with the first 3G Phone in 2002, and the multi-player Nokia N-Gage. In 2005, the N-series were born with their sophisticated mobile phones.

In 2006, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo became the new CEO of Nokia and Jorma Ollila shifted to being the Chairman of Nokia’s board. At that time Nokia and Siemens announced plans for Nokia siemens network the leading operations of Nokia. In 2007, Nokia launched its new internet services brand.

In order to achieve its goals, Nokia developed strategies. These strategies differ from country to another, from a culture to another. Companies are always creating a vision and a mission statement to make everything tacit. Evidently, Nokia has set up its specific missions and visions

Nokia at Present

In 1992, the company launched its first GSM handset and then introduced their famous Nokia Tune in 1994. During that year, the world’s first satellite was made using a Nokia GSM handset.

In 1997 the world famous mobile game “Snake” was presented in the Nokia 6110. Soon after, in 1998, the company became the world leader in mobile phones. Following a good deal of research, they launched the first mobile phone “Nokia 7110” which included a WAP.

Nokia Now:

Presently, Nokia is creating more and more mobiles phones with differing functions. The company also makes sure into diversifying and segmenting its products. Their leading position pushed the company to go forward in their research. They came up with the first 3G Phone in 2002, and the multi-player Nokia N-Gage. In 2005, the N-series were born with their sophisticated mobile phones.

In 2006, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo became the new CEO of Nokia and Jorma Ollila shifted to being the Chairman of Nokia’s board. At that time Nokia and Siemens announced plans for Nokia siemens network the leading operations of Nokia. In 2007, Nokia launched its new internet services brand.

In order to achieve its goals, Nokia developed strategies. These strategies differ from country to another, from a culture to another. Companies are always creating a vision and a mission statement to make everything tacit. Evidently, Nokia has set up its specific missions

History of Nokia

Nokia’s first century:

The company was founded in 1865 by Frederick Idestam. The company began a paper mill in Tammerkoski in southern Finland. Frederick Idestam then built another mill by the Nokiavirta River where he gave the name Nokia to the mill in 1871. Originally, the Nokianvirta River was named after a dark furry animal, locally known as the Nokia – a type of marten.

Following a major industrial force, the company merges with a cable company (founded by Eduard Polon) and a rubber firm (founded by Arvid Wickstrom) which sets Nokia on the new path of electronics. Nokia’s first electronic device was a pulse analyzer designed for use in nuclear power plants in 1962. Their interest in telecommunication systems began in 1963 when they started developing radio telephones for the army and the emergency services, prior to the manufacturing of televisions, radio phones, data transfer equipment, radio link, analyzers and digital telephone exchange. Nokia will change its production and focus on the telecommunication expertise until it becomes the core of its future work.

To move to mobile:

In 1979 Mobira Oy was the first phone maker. They begin life as a joint venture between Nokia and leading Finnish television Salora. The Mobile phone revolution started in 1981 with the launch of the first Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) service. The phone industry began to expand rapidly and Nokia introduces its first car phones followed by the portable in 1986.

Mobile revolution:

In 1992, Nokia decides to focus on its telecommunications business. This happens when Jorma Ollila becomes CEO of Nokia and he chooses to concentrate on telecommunication industry. In the 1990’s, the rubber, cable, and consumer electronics divisions, were therefore sold. Nokia’s only business turned towards the manufacturing of mobile phones and telecommunications systems. The strategy of Jorma Ollila was to create a new era of telecommunication on a long term vision.

Nokia features & four V's

Features

Quality: Nokia phones are solid. The quality of sound and the button make you feel ill at ease with the phone. Its materials and components are one of the most important factors that push the customers to buy it, the design too.

Speed: A Nokia phone response and transfer quickly items for a phone to another. Also the short cut, easy, evident and simple to use.

Dependability: Nokia phone will never let you down because of the high autonomy of the battery. In some phones, especially professional ones, they offer an extra battery to be always available.

Flexibility: They produce cell phone suitable to every kind of person. They have a wide range of style, from the basic use to the professional one. Depending on the status, the software’s are not the same. The features of phones for young people are not the same as the professional one as they differ in the complexity of their systems.

Cost: They produce a wide variety of products ranging from cheap to very expensive. Most of the people can buy a Nokia starting from 300 Dh, for e.g. Nokia 3310, to the expensive one like the Nokia Sapphire that cost around 14,000 Dh.

Nokia’s 4 V’s:

Volume: Nokia has a medium to high volume because its produces a large quantity of cell phones but not everyday. People buy a cell phone once generally for a year or two.

Variety: Nokia produces only cell phone and other software. The variety of the company is very low.

Variation: The variation in demand is very high. Nokia attempts to meet the requirements of their customers both professional and ordinary ones.

Volume: Nokia is located over 40 countries all over the world including shops. We can see the brand name everywhere and it’s much known.

The company has a mass and cell production process. It’s a mass because it produces a large quantity of cell phones and it’s a cell production because each cell phone is produced in a plant in China, Finland and Brazil. The manufacturing of each phone is done separately

Nokia success

Regaining Strategic Agility Success and market leadership often turn strategic agility into strategic rigidity. Cognitive Broadening Through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Nokia was characterized by a tension between the focused cognition on operational success in the core business and the broadened cognition of planting seeds of renewal. The narrow focus jeopardized strategic sensitivity, while the broadened focus fostered strategic sensitivity.

Corporate ventures, and their informal equivalent within NMP, allowed experiential learning around, and away from, the core businesses. Some of these ventures were positioned, and justified, as fitting with the core 3G trajectory of Nokia’s development. They obtained commitment and resources, but in fact were used to explore new growth avenues.23 By giving enough independence to Through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Nokia was characterized by a tension between the focused cognition on operational success in the core business and the broadened cognition of planting seeds of renewal. The narrow focus jeopardized strategic sensitivity, while the broadened focus fostered strategic sensitivity.

The relative informality of the process and the variety and number of ventures launched over a relatively short time frame called for intense discussions. The structuring of these discussions around the forums described earlier allowed for a richer strategic dialogue among a wider group of executives and professionals than just top management or a separate venture group. In the NMP process, the dialogue was even more direct and intense as the innovative efforts were run informally within the same organization as the core business,

under the sponsorship of the executive also leading Sales and Marketing for Europe (Nokia’s core region at that time). The ongoing strategic dialogue around ventures maintained a level of strategic sensitivity across a broad cadre of people who might otherwise have been fully absorbed with operational concerns. The co-existence within NMP of pressures for operational excellence and of seeds of renewal created a healthy tension.

Although the belief in 3G primacy was strong and central, it was not totally overwhelming. Sometimes, as with WLAN, Nokia was too early, losing its interest to this technology for a while only to learn later that this was indeed an important area. Sometimes, as with the first “communicator,” products did not succeed commercially, but the learning and understanding they brought were acknowledged and used

Nokia Supply chain

Nokia Supply chain:

For Nokia, the reality of a supply chain management is a fact; and the commercial organisation chosen and the levels of service displayed are proving it. Nokia doesn’t sale its cell phones directly to individuals, they sale them through operators such (Bouygues, SFR, Maroc Telecom) and to distributors (Cora, Auchan, Carrefour…) also to traders who are intermediate who are responsible for the marketing of Nokia products with the small distributors.

The supply chain management of Nokia is very strategic because of the market expansion. It’s a market who grows slowly, so they should optimize resources and the capacity of production. Another point that shows the importance of supply chain manager holds that the competition is exacerbated. One of the operators have manufactured in the Scandinavian countries, so Nokia has to take decisions to optimize the supply chain to counter their offer.

As a big MNC, it should be much organised. In the beginning it plans forecast. Nokia looks to the market three years. Then, they make a forecast in their sales over 12 months. Every subsidiary develops previsions of their market. In their prevision of sale, things aren’t simple. It does not only make a historical observation and then have a prevision, no; it must be taken into account the rate of penetration in the country and its level of growth in the future. It looks the part of the market that needs improvement.

These 12 months forecast and the daily schedule in the very short term allows two things. It allows Nokia to know it needs for the next weeks and for the next months, per 14 country, per family products. Then Nokia will optimize the capacity of production which is then distributed. Each country will be given a part of production.

Nokia is organised in the base of two teams. There is one team of prevision and sales planning (logistics team), working against a team to optimize the daily production capacity and supply (supply team).

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 1 (1)

PHASE 1:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Nokia is a leading mobile device manufacturer globally and has a high market share. Maximum population in India prefers using Nokia handsets as it is user friendly. It can use its customer’s goodwill and loyalty to diversify in the mobile network market in India.

The communications sector in India has transformed into a multi-player and multi-product market that has diverse market size and segments. In order to diversify in to new market, Nokia needs to develop a marketing plan which will give them the idea what factors to be considered before entering the mobile network sector. The marketing plan includes all the factors that need to be undertaken. They are market analysis, competitor analysis, environmental analysis, customer analysis, internal and external factors.

The mobile network market is growing rapidly and has good opportunities for new entrants to enter market and gain market share. Though there is much opportunity in this market, there are some threats such as threat from existing competitor, high customer churn rates, etc.

BACKGROUND OF NOKIA:

Nokia was incorporated by Fredrik Idestam’s on the banks of Nokianvirta river in 1865. From its incorporation to till date Nokia had gone through four phases (see figure 1). Nokia started as a paper mill company and by 1967 merged with cable company and rubber enterprise to place Nokia in to electronics. Between 1968-1991, it was positioned to take initiative in the advancement towards mobile communications. During the period 1992-1999, Nokia concentrated primarily on its telecommunications unit and became market leader before the start of millennium. In the last decade, Nokia continues to be the market leader with 3G, mobile gaming, multimedia devices and with future challenges to be achieved.

Fig. 1: Timeline of Nokia

YEARPHASE

1865-1967 Phase I - Nokia’s First Century

1968-1991 Phase II - The move to mobile

1992-1999 Phase III - Mobile Revolution

2000-Till Phase IV - Market Leader and

date new technology

- Source: http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia/company/story-of-nokia

Nokia’s Vision:

Their ‘Connecting People’ tagline states their vision to create a world where everybody is connected every moment, everywhere and at any time.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 1 (2)

MARKETING PLAN:

A marketing plan is a written document that outlines the marketers’ knowledge about the market place and point out how the company plans to achieve its marketing objectives. Kotler (1991) states that marketing plan is one of the most important output of marketing process.

PROPOSED PRODUCT

I have selected Nokia sim-cards as their new product extension. As they are not in the service provider market, it will help them to diversify and gain market share through the goodwill they have created over decades.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS:

In order to enter in to the sim card market, Nokia will have to face competition from already existing service providers such as Bharti Airtel which is the market leader with over 93.92 million subscribers and market share of 21.73%. Followed by this is reliance and Vodafone with market share of 17.49% and 17.46% respectively. Whereas, new entrant Aircel has bagged 18.48 million subscribers and market share of 6.40% within a short span of time. This indicates there is increasing demand in this market.

Hence, Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, and Aircel are major competitors which can dissuade

the growth of Nokia.

MARKET ANALYSIS:

It is a tool that helps organization to better understand the environment in which they function (Kress, Webb, and Synder, 1994). It is critically assessing the market in which the organization is launching a product. And is a vital step in development of marketing plan. One of the methods used in market analysis is Porter’s five forces framework. It implements five forces that show competitive force and attractiveness of the market.

Bargaining power of Buyers (Customers): The customers in the service provider market have high bargaining power because of following reasons:

· Availability of many service providers.

· The service is undifferentiated as most of the service providers provide same service.

Bargaining power of Suppliers (Service Providers): The service providers have limited bargaining power due to following reasons:

· Existence of many service providers.

· Fewer margins to differentiate service from other service providers.

Threat of New Entrants:

As there is significant growth in this market for the past few years, which results in increasing threat from new entrants.

· Growing interdependence between service provider and cell phone manufacturer.

· Low entry barrier.

Threat of Substitutes:

There is much threat from substitutes due to availability of many service providers and also due to less scope to differentiate from the competitors.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 1 (3)

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:

It deals with scanning the business environment through collecting, analyzing and implementing the available information for developing a market plan. The tool used to scan the business environment is through PEST analysis.

Pest Analysis

Political Factors: It includes government rules and regulations under which an organization must operate. It differs from one organization to another as per the market in which it functions. In India, there is partial regulation of government policies for service providers in the telecommunications industry. As market is deregulated, it gives an opportunity for Nokia to enter the service provider market with better service plans to its customers.

Economic Factors: It affects the buying power of customers and also has an impact on the company’s cost of capital. In current market situation of global recession, people are opting for service plans with cheaper rates (Call, text messaging) and also internet connectivity of the service provider, Nokia can introduce its sim-card with better coverage, cheaper rates, internet connectivity and additional services for people using Nokia handsets. This will give an edge to Nokia to penetrate in the service provider market.

Social Factors: It deals with customers profile such as demographic, culture, occupation, etc. As the number of people using mobile phones in India is growing every year, Nokia can penetrate the service provider

market by selecting its target market and offering service plans according to the usage. Nokia can segment the market as per region, population, and so on.

Technological Factors: Research and Development (R&D) plays a key role in success of any organization. The more technological advance the firm is, the better they have advantage to capture the market. As Nokia is well-known for its wireless technology and is among the leading player. They can use their advance technology in the service provider market and provide strong network range. Also high internet connectivity will give an edge over the existing network service providers.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 1 (4)

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS

At present, almost everyone uses cell phone. Therefore, the target segment for this market cannot be specific. Nokia needs to target population according to their usage by providing customize service plans so that the customer can select the plan which meets their requirements. They can also segment customers regionally as the usage is much more in urban market.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:

Huge market share: Nokia has huge market share in the cell phone sector and therefore can use its image to be successful in the service provider market. World-class technology: Nokia can make use of its world class research and development team to design better network coverage for its sim-cards.

Geographical Reach: As Nokia is one of the renowned brands globally, its presence in the market is very high and can use this to provide its sim-cards service to majority of population.

Weakness:

New in the market: As Nokia is new in the service provider market, it will be difficult to attract customers towards its sim-cards and service plans.

High customer churn rate: Due to many competitors in the market and less margin to differentiate the service from competitors, customers switch from one service provider to other if they are not satisfied with its service.

Opportunities:

Untapped Market: Nokia is new to the service provider market and has an opportunity to explore the market.

High market growth rate: As the number of people using mobile phones is increasing rapidly. There is high growth rate in the market.

Increase Market Share: Nokia can increase its market share by untapping the service provider market and increasing its customer base.

Threats:

Competitors threat: Nokia face competitors threat from market leaders such as Airtel, Vodafone and also from new entrant Aircel which has been successful to gain market share within a short period.

Global recession: It led to less amount of disposable income with the customers. Hence, customers think twice before investing his money.

Market Saturation: It poses as another threat if the service provider market saturates due to financial crisis caused by recession.

CONCLUSION

Nokia’s strategy to diversify from cell phone manufacture to Nokia mobile network will be a great success. Moreover, it can use its goodwill and loyalty of people towards Nokia cell phone to use its sim-cards. As majority of service provider’s focus on urban areas, Nokia can use its geographical reach to untap the rural market.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (1)

PHASE 2:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

After the completion of planning stage of marketing plan, an organization has to go through next stage which is strategic options. It deals with various key issues that a firm needs to look at. They are marketing objectives, Strategic objectives, Marketing mix, STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) process, Distribution process and Value chain.

The phase 2 of the marketing plan for Nokia SIM cards deals with each of this. In order to diversify in to SIM cards market, Nokia needs to identify key issues that it has to deal with and the competitive advantage it needs to focus on to penetrate in the market and gain market share. The marketing objectives deal with increase in sales volume and profitability. Strategic objectives can be found out with the help of BCG matrix. Marketing Mix deals with the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion). Distribution process deals with the ways in which Nokia can deliver its SIM cards to the customers and Value chain deals with the steps that needs to be undertaken in order to manufacture and deliver SIM cards to its customers.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

It is defined as, ‘marketing goals that the business must achieve in order to meet its wider business objectives’. Some of the main marketing objectives of an organization are to increase its market share, differentiate its products from competitors, develop brand value among its customers, and introducing new products or services in the market. The strategic objectives of an organization can be measured with the help of BCG matrix. BCG matrix helps to measure an organizations business units or product lines.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (2)

After the completion of planning stage of marketing plan, an organization has to go through next stage which is strategic options. It deals with various key issues that a firm needs to look at. They are marketing objectives, Strategic objectives, Marketing mix, STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) process, Distribution process and Value chain.

The phase 2 of the marketing plan for Nokia SIM cards deals with each of this. In order to diversify in to SIM cards market, Nokia needs to identify key issues that it has to deal with and the competitive advantage it needs to focus on to penetrate in the market and gain market share. The marketing objectives deal with increase in sales volume and profitability. Strategic objectives can be found out with the help of BCG matrix. Marketing Mix deals with the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion). Distribution process deals with the ways in which Nokia can deliver its SIM cards to the customers and Value chain deals with the steps that needs to be undertaken in order to manufacture and deliver SIM cards to its customers.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

It is defined as, ‘marketing goals that the business must achieve in order to meet its wider business objectives’. Some of the main marketing objectives of an organization are to increase its market share, differentiate its products from competitors, develop brand value among its customers, and introducing new products or services in the market. The strategic objectives of an organization can be measured with the help of BCG matrix. BCG matrix helps to measure an organizations business units or product lines.

Stars (Build): Stars represents an organization that has large market share in a rapidly growing industry and focuses on increasing sales and market share. In case of Nokia entering the mobile network market, they have dominated the Indian cell phone market for many years. But to maintain this lead in the service provider market they need to make huge investments to develop their R & D and also their supply chain department so that it can utilize its geographical reach to provide its mobile network service to people living in rural areas also which is still an untap mobile network market up to a certain extent.

Question Marks (Hold): It represents a firm which has a small market share in a high growth market and the objective is to maintain market share. In case of Nokia SIM cards, initially they need to penetrate in the market with cheaper rates than their competitors and provide service plans as per the needs of the customers. By implementing these strategies they will attract certain market share but whether they will sustain in the market is unknown.

Cash Cows (Harvest): It represents an organization that has small market share in a growing market and the objective is to maximize profit though its sales and market share is falling. In case of Nokia entering mobile network market, they will be new to the market and have a small amount of market share. If its growth is stable or declining due to much competition from competitors than it needs to maximize its profit by engaging into tie-ups with existing players.

Dogs (Divest): It represents a firm which has very small market share in a mature market. The objective is to wind up or sell its product rights to other organization. In case of Nokia SIM cards, if it fails to gain market share then it needs to sell its mobile network to other player in the market or else has to completely wind-up its business from the market

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (3)

Another tool to measure its marketing objective is through SMART i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound.

· Specific: It refers to be precise about what organizations marketing objectives. In case of Nokia SIM cards, Nokia needs to determine the target market which it will be focusing. It also needs to specify it’s positioning of SIM cards among the population such as teenagers, college students, professionals, etc.

· Measurable: It refers to quantify a firm’s objective. In case of Nokia SIM cards, it needs to measure the growth rate of the market and plan its strategies accordingly.

· Achievable: It refers an organization to verify its objectives and to make sure that they are not expecting too much growth from the market. In case of Nokia SIM cards, it needs to have a detail market as well competitor analysis so that they can accordingly plan its marketing objectives.

· Realistic: It refers to availability of necessary resources to achieve the objective of an organization. In case of Nokia SIM cards, Nokia has necessary resources such as financial, R & D, Human resource, etc. Therefore, their objective is realistic.

· Time bound: It refers to state the time when the objective will be achieved. In case of Nokia SIM cards, as they have necessary resources and expertise R & D, they can enter the mobile network market within a short period of time.

MARKET SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING

Market Segmentation

It is process of dividing the market in to segments based on different characteristics. The various ways to segment the market are: Demographic, Psychographic, etc. Consumer based segmentation can be executed on product specific basis. It is a process of segmenting customers on various dimensions. Nokia has to target its customers based on their usage. For instance, cheaper call rates and SmS for college students, faster internet connectivity for professionals, etc.

In order to evaluate the market segment, Nokia needs to look at two major factors: Overall attractiveness of the market and company’s objectives and resources

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (4)

Market Targeting

One of the key elements of marketing strategy is to select its target market. A target market can be defined as a market or group of customers that the firm has decided to target its products or services through its marketing strategies. As Nokia is new in the SIM card market, it has to target its customers at the lower end as to increase its customer base and ultimately market share. Moreover, there is high usage rate in urban areas and among youngsters therefore Nokia needs to select the target market accordingly. They can also use undifferentiated marketing to target its selected market.

Market Positioning

It refers to position a firm’s product or service in customer’s mind so that customers can differentiate a firm’s product from other. In order to position product, a firm need to select its target segment and thereby position its product. Nokia has position its SIM-cards in the same manner as it had done to position its cell phones. It can position its SIM cards as better network coverage, cheaper call rates, good customer service and so on. This will help its customers to get emotionally connect to its service and thereby prefer Nokia SIM cards over its competitors.

1. STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH

Generic Strategy

The term generic strategy was introduced by Michael E. Porter to find ways how companies compete in segmented market and gains advantage over its competitors. The firm can achieve competitive advantage over other players by differentiating its product and service offerings. There are three key generic strategies that an organization can undergo to achieve competitive advantage over other firms. They are cost leadership, differentiation and focus

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (5)

· Cost Leadership: A company who tries to gain competitive advantage by pricing its product lower than competitors can achieve strategic growth through cost leadership. In case of Nokia, the price of the SIM cards should be kept low to target broad market and achieve cost leadership. They can thus achieve competitive advantage among customers over its competitors.

· Differentiation: It refers to an organization offering its product or service that differentiates from its competitors to gain competitive advantage. In order to differentiate its product a company has to incur higher cost in its R & D. Nokia can differentiate its SIM cards by offering customize service plans to its customers which they can select as per their usage.

· Focus: The firm which focuses on a particular market tries to use niche marketing to gain competitive advantage. It is done through targeting its product offering to narrow market. Nokia can use this strategy to gain competitive advantage over its competitors by targeting its SIM cards particularly in rural market which is still untap to a certain market. It may also involve a high cost but they can use their cell phone market geographical reach to target that market.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (6)

MARKETING MIX

It is the most famous marketing term and is used by all organization to target its customers. The elements of marketing mix are the basis of a marketing plan. It includes 4 P’s for products and 7 P’s for services. They are Product, Price, Place, Promotion and extended P’s i.e. Physical evidence, People and Process for services.

Product

A product is a tangible thing that is sold by an organization to its customers in order to gain market share. To gain market share a firm needs to differentiate its products from competitors, be innovative, and eliminate the products which are not doing well in the market. In case of Nokia, it is a market leader in cell phone market. To gain market share and increase its customer base, Nokia is diversifying into SIM cards market. To differentiate its product from the competitors it has to use various strategies such as mass marketing. The product offered by Nokia i.e. SIM cards can be described with the service that they can offer.

Price

Price refers to the amount a customer is willing to spend. It is determined by a number of factors such as market share, growth rate, competitor pricing, etc. Nokia has to keep its SIM card prices low in order to penetrate into the mobile network market. They need to offer service plans as per the usage of the customers. While pricing, Nokia needs to keep in mind different segments that they are targeting. For instance, different plan for youngsters, corporate, businesses, SBUs. They also need to constantly update its pricing in order to compete with its competitors.

Place

It refers to geographical area where the product is placed. It also includes outlets, distribution channel. Nokia needs to make available its SIM cards both in rural and urban areas. It can also use its geographical reach to untap the rural markets which is still not properly covered by the existing competitors. Nokia can also use its customer care centres to sell its SIM cards. Apart from this, they can provide its SIM cards to retailers and dealers.

Promotion

It represents all the marketing activities that are carried to promote a product in the market. There are various mediums to promote products such as advertisements, hoardings, etc. Nokia can use various mediums to promote its SIM cards. It can use celebrities, advertisements, hoardings, sponsoring events, etc. They can also spread awareness about its SIM cards by using canopies outside colleges.

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (7)

1. NOKIA SIM CARDS VALUE CHAIN

The value chain was developed by M. E. Porter in 1980. It is a systematic approach to study the growth of competitive advantage. It consists of a chain of activities that create and build value. These factors ultimately contribute to the total value delivered by a firm.

The value chain of Nokia SIM cards consists of 5 steps before it is made available to the customers. The first step consists of platform provider. It deals with license to install mobile network. In India, this license is provided by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). The next step is R & D; Nokia has the necessary resources in order to diversify in to SIM cards market. Some of the resources required are finance, technology, human resource, infrastructure, etc. The next step in the value chain is content and services. In this, the companies R & D has to analyze the market and then decide the necessary content and service to provide with its SIM cards. The next step is manufacturing of SIM cards which is to be decided whether Nokia will use it resources or outsource it. The next step deals with distribution of SIM cards in the market which can be done in two ways: through franchises and through distributors. And at last the SIM cards will be available for the customers to make use of it and derive the value in comparison to its competitors.

Distribution Process

The distribution process of Nokia SIM cards is through two ways:

· Franchise – Dealer – Customer: Nokia can sell it SIM cards to the franchise which will sell the SIM cards in the outlet and also through providing to dealers which will then make available to the customers.

· Distributor – Dealer – Customer: Nokia can also use this distribution channel by providing the SIM cards to regional distributors which will sell directly to customers and also provide it to dealers who will ultimately sell to customers

Mktg plan of Nokia - Phase 2 (8)

SIPOC Process

There are five steps in the SIPOC process. They are Supplier, Inputs, Process, Output, and Customer.

While considering the manufacturing of Nokia SIM cards in the market, Nokia needs to undergo through the SIPOC process. It will help them to understand who would be the suppliers i.e. whether they will manufacture it or outsource. It will help them to understand what the necessary resources are in order to introduce Nokia SIM cards. The output will give them the idea what are the different SIM cards they going to introduce in the market. Customers will give them the idea who their target markets are and according provides service plans. And finally the process deals with customer service and the necessary strategies to be undertaken in order to gain market share.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to diversify its business in to mobile network market, Nokia needs to make use of its leading mobile phones manufacturer image. As Nokia has build loyalty among its mobile phone users, it can use this for attracting customers towards its SIM cards and thereby gain market share. Also with its world class R & D department, it can offer many services to its customers which will help them to differentiate in their service offering from its competitors. For instance, video calling, free roaming, outgoing call restriction, etc. By focusing more on rural market which is untap to a certain extent, Nokia can satisfy its customers in rural areas which most of the existing players are not successful. Also by offering customize service plans to its customers such as offering SmS package, unlimited internet package, Free Hello tune, and so on with minimum price. Nokia can also make tie-ups with existing players such as Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel in order to gain larger market share. It can also offer better deals to customers who are buying Nokia handsets on its SIM cards which will increase its sales as well as customer base. This will help them to develop loyalty among its customers. In order to diversify in to SIM cards segment, Nokia needs to use mass marketing by implementing various promotion strategies such as Advertisements, Hoardings, Sponsoring events, canopies outside colleges and so on. Nokia also needs to plan its distribution strategy in order to reach to maximum people. They can also use their ‘Connecting People’ tagline in its SIM card, thereby giving additional meaning to it.

Thus, to diversify in to SIM card market is a better option for Nokia to increase its market share and revenue. Also this will help them to build larger customer base which will ultimately result in one of the leading brands in the telecommunications industry.